


Fire Alarms Always Go Off at 3am

by musicforlife101



Series: Captain Canary Hiatus Fics [1]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012), DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Captain Canary, Captain Canary Hiatus Fest, F/M, Kendra is totally still a barista, Language, crappy apartment building
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-12
Updated: 2016-03-12
Packaged: 2018-05-26 04:43:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6224395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/musicforlife101/pseuds/musicforlife101
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>College AU - When a fire alarm goes off at 3am during finals week, Sara ends up outside her crappy building in shorts and snow boots. She meets her attractive neighbor who lends her his coat. Which is good because this whole situation is his roommate's fault.</p><p>AU Day #1 for the Captain Canary Hiatus Fest</p><p>mild/pre- relationship</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fire Alarms Always Go Off at 3am

**Author's Note:**

> Hi!! This is my first fic in this fandom, though I've loved Sara and Leonard since their introductions on Arrow and Flash. And now I totally ship them.
> 
> This is my fill for the AU Day #1 for Hiatus Fest and was inspired by the following prompts:  
> It’s 3am, in the dead of winter, some motherfucker pulled/set off the fire alarm and I am being very vocal about how I’m gonna make that fucker pay  
> &  
> someone needs to write a ‘the fire alarm went off at 3 am and now the cute guy from the flat next door is standing next to me in his underwear’ AU
> 
> This is also somewhat inspired by various apartments and dorms I've lived in over the last six years. And I borrowed the sketchy elevator from a building I went to a party at in my freshman year.
> 
> And I sadly do not own the characters of Legends of Tomorrow. They belong to the lovely people at DC, Warner Bros, etc.
> 
> I really hope you enjoy!!

It felt like mere minutes had passed since Sara Lance had fallen asleep. She’d been comfortable in her bed with only a sheet across her hips. The radiators (like everything else in the building) were shit. Half the building could barely get heat in the dead of winter, and here they were, 25 degrees outside and she was in a cami and boxers. Their radiator ran almost constantly, it was too cold outside to leave a window open, and if it meant they could avoid using a fan and hiking up their electric bill, then shorts would have to do.

A loud screeching whine continued to blare in the apartment and in the corridor outside. Kendra came into her tiny room (a converted dining room) with a flap of the curtain that served as her door.

“Sara! The fire alarm is going off, are you even awake?”

“Yes,” she groaned.

“We have to go downstairs or they’ll fine us. And – ”

“We don’t have any extra money for municipal violations this month!” Felicity shouted from the doorway. She opened the door and the volume doubled.

“Why couldn’t this have happened after finals?!” Sara whined as she shoved her feet into her snow boots and was pulled blearily toward the door. The first night all week that she’d been hoping to sleep more than three hours and this is how the universe treats her.

 

Sara held the handrail securely as she made her way down the stairs. She was pretty sure the majority of her was still asleep and her legs were definitely not working. The crowd in the stairwell increased with each floor and by the time they reached the tenth it was starting to get uncomfortable.

“At least we don’t have to take the elevator,” Kendra said, ever the optimist.

“Yeah, that thing is so sketchy. It’s just a death trap. Literally the least safe thing I have ever been on – ” Felicity rambled.

“Remind me why we live on the fourteenth floor, then.” Sara was slightly more awake and significantly more annoyed now.

“Because sketchy elevator is preferable to having mice in our apartment,” Kendra answered. Sara shrugged. It was true, the building was crappy, but cheap, so they’d made the best of a bad lot.

 

When they reached the lobby, the night manager was directing everyone outside despite several loud protests about being forced out into the cold at 3 in the morning. But apparently someone’s smoke detector had gone off, and someone else had smelled smoke and pulled the alarm. Under the angry glares and forceful words of the Jerry, their pasty night manager, Sara, Kendra, and Felicity made their way outside into the cold. At least Felicity and Kendra had managed to grab their coats. Probably because they hadn’t spent the last six days in the hell of severe sleep deprivation and had been more able to function. Sara was still in her tiny tank top and boxer shorts. She crossed her arms over her chest.

Kendra looked around at their neighbors, spotting a cluster of people off to the side. “I’m going to go see if I can figure out what’s happening. Will you be okay?” She looked at Sara with concern.

“Yeah, I’m just going to walk around. See if I can warm up.” She wandered toward the grass in front of the building, which was still dusted with snow from earlier in the week. A tall, good-looking man stood there in a blue parka. She scowled at him. Why couldn’t someone have grabbed _her_ parka?

She walked back and forth, leaving tracks in the shallow covering of snow. At least her feet weren’t cold.

The man spoke. “Why are you wearing that?”

She raised an eyebrow. “Because it’s sweltering in my apartment.”

“You live on the upper floors, I’d guess.”

“Fourteen. And you? You looked dressed for the weather, so you must live on a lower floor.”

He smirked just slightly. “Yeah, the second.” He paused. “Plus, my roommate set off our smoke detector. Our neighbor heard it and pulled the fire alarm.”

“Your roommate is the reason I’m outside in the freezing cold in fucking shorts and a tank top! He’s the fucker who set off the fire alarm at 3 o’clock in the FUCKING morning?!?!”

He flicked his eyes back and forth, glancing at the people who were now looking at them. “What can I say? Mick likes fire.” Sara huffed loudly and turned back to face the building. They stood shoulder to shoulder. He crossed his arms and mirrored her position.

Sara shivered, then stopped, wrapping her arms tighter around herself.

“You must be cold in that,” he said.

She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, well, my roommates rushed me out before I could grab my coat.”

He leaned down so he was closer to her ear, and lowered his voice. “If it makes you feel any better, you _look_ hot in it.” She tried not to smile, but it was so intentionally cheesy that she couldn’t help herself. In one move, she turned and punched him hard in the upper arm. “Ow.” His voice held a note of mock injury, but his expression was flat. Sara chuffed a laugh and rolled her eyes, turning back toward the building again. The fire department was inside now, checking every floor.

The man beside her rubbed his arm surreptitiously. For a person so much smaller than him, her blow had actually hurt. He watched her out of the corner of his eye. She was trying so hard to control her shivering. He slipped off his parka and dropped it around her shoulders. She looked up at him with wide eyes as he stepped in front of her and zipped the jacket up to her neck. Then he pulled the hood up and stepped back.

“Thanks.”

“I don’t mind the cold.” He glanced over at her, and she was looking up at him with wide blue eyes.

“I’m Sara,” she said, sliding her arms into the sleeves of his still warm jacket and holding out her hand to him.

“Leonard,” he replied, shaking her hand. She smiled and put her hands in his coat pockets. Since Leonard was so much taller and bigger than her, his jacket covered most of her thighs, leaving only her knees exposed to the weather. It wasn't perfect, but she was much warmer now. “I’m guessing you’re a student.”

“Yeah, I’m a senior, so after this only one more set of finals.”

“It’s exam time,” he said, beginning to understand her earlier anger. “I suppose this alarm has interrupted the few hours of sleep you were hoping to get.”

She huffed and huddled deeper into his jacket. “I’m almost done and I’ve been staying up to study all week. I was going to sleep so much tonight!” Sara leaned into Leonard’s side, searching out his warmth and maybe a place to nap. Her shoulder pressed into his ribs, and he brought his arm up to wrap around her. “Don’t get any ideas. I’m still pissed about the fire alarm and I’m holding you accountable.”

“Why don’t I make it up to you? I’ll buy you coffee in the morning. Well, later in the morning.”

“Not going to work. My roommate Kendra is a barista at Campus Coffee, so I get free coffee whenever I want.”

“Dinner then, when your finals are over.”

She considered it for a moment. He was really good looking and he smelled amazing. And he had a sharp tongue. It wouldn’t be the worst dinner she’d shared with a man.

“Sure.”

 

* * *

 

_5 weeks later…_

Sara’s final semester of college started with another early morning fire alarm. It was still freezing outside, but there was more snow on the ground. The firefighters had traipsed in and were checking the floors. She stood looking up at the building wrapped in Leonard’s parka with the hood up.

Len stepped up behind her and slid his arms around her waist, resting his chin on top of her head. She leant back into his chest, which was warm and broad and comfortable.

“You should really take the batteries out of your smoke detector.”

“Noted.”


End file.
